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Colombian, Venezuelan presidents agree to overcome border crisis

Xinhua, September 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro reached an agreement here on Monday in a bid to address the border crisis between the two countries.

"The heads of state recognized the fundamental importance of dialogue mechanism and reaffirmed the historical, geographical proximity and the right of each country to develop its political, economic and social model,"said Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who hosted the dialogue at the Carondelet presidential palace.

After five hours of discussion, presidents of Colombia and Venezuela came to a conclusion on seven points, including the immediate return of ambassadors, the normalization of the border and the coexistence of political, economic and social models of each country.

Maduro described the meeting as an extraordinary opportunity and the groundwork for a new start, while Santos said "here wisdom prevailed, this was a calm, respectful and constructive dialogue."

The idea of bringing Maduro and Santos together, said Correa, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), came after a telephone conversation with Tabare Vazquez, president of Uruguay, a country that holds the rotating presidency of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur). Presidents of Ecuador and Uruguay as well as foreign ministers from the four countries participated in the meeting as mediators.

On Aug. 19, a crisis erupted between Venezuela and Colombia when Maduro ordered the closure of part of the countries' shared border, saying three Venezuelan army officers were wounded by suspected paramilitary gunmen operating in Colombia.

Venezuela has also deported nearly 1,100 Colombians since the border closure, with another 5,000 leaving voluntarily, followed by announcements by both countries late Thursday to recall their respective ambassadors.

The suddenly deteriorating situation did not come out of surprise, as rampant cross-border crimes, kidnapping and drug trafficking have aroused serious concerns from Venezuela, which accused Colombian paramilitaries of smuggling highly-subsidized goods from Venezuela to Colombia, detrimental to the interests of the Venezuela people. Endi